Sports

No Joint Korean March at Paralympics due to Flag Dispute

The two Koreas will not march together at the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Paralympics set for Friday.

The South's Korean Paralympic Committee(KPC) said Thursday that the two sides made the decision after discussions.

South and North Korea previously agreed to hold a joint parade carrying a unified flag, which shows an image of the Korean Peninsula in blue, as they did at the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

However, in a related meeting on Thursday, North Korea insisted that the unified flag should show Dokdo, the eastern islets of South Korea that Japan claims as its own territory. The North said that not showing the islets on the flag hurts the pride of Koreans.

South Korea took the position that it wants to use the flag without Dokdo in accordance with the International Paralympic Committee’s recommendation not to politicize sporting events.